


The Secrets We Hoard

by P3nny_Dreadful



Series: The Demons of Hell's Kitchen [3]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Alternate History, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Pre-Spider Bite Peter Parker, no beta we die like men, not entirely canon compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:26:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25276885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/P3nny_Dreadful/pseuds/P3nny_Dreadful
Summary: There's a new vigilante running around Hell's Kitchen. The people have started calling them the Leviathan. The child of the Devil of Hell's Kitchen who watches the city at night.However, just as the Leviathan watches over Hell's Kitchen. Three other individuals watch the Leviathan. They just don't know it yet.May isn't sure what to make of Peter. She knows he's gotten himself into something, just not what.Ned misses his best friend. Misses how there weren't any secrets between them.MJ can see the constant bruises on his knees and arms. Can see how he doesn't sleep at night.
Relationships: Matt Murdock & Peter Parker, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker
Series: The Demons of Hell's Kitchen [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1742146
Comments: 6
Kudos: 103





	The Secrets We Hoard

**Author's Note:**

> The Secrets We Hoard takes place in between the time when Matt starts teaching Peter to parkour and the ending of The Price of a Human Life.

May stands in the kitchen, a glass of water in hand. She's just about to take a sip when a stair step creaks. She's about to call out when a figure moves past her. All the lights are off but she knows that it's Peter. May watches as Peter moves silently through the house, out the front door, and into the street. She spies a backpack on Peter before he shuts the door behind her. What was Peter doing going out so late? 

Perhaps if it had been an isolated incident she could've just forgotten it. Could've written it off as Peter just being Peter. But it wasn't.

Peter often came home with new bruises. They peppered and decorated his knees and arms, blossoming like purple and blue flowers on his skin. She had confronted him about them once, while he helped her bake. He'd smile, and told her he fell. 

"You must fall a lot then." She had replied. 

"I'm pretty clumsy." Peter shrugged.

She almost believed him. Almost. Had believed him the first few times. It was only until the bruises hadn't faded away when they should've. Only until they seemed to multiply. She thinks that Peter's being bullied. It has to be the only explanation for why he's constantly covered in bruises. The reason why he can't tell her the real reason. Peter was many things, but one of his biggest defining attributes was trying not to worry anyone. 

She sat him down after he got home from school. 

"Cookie?" She offers, holding a plate out towards him.

"Yeah!" He grabs one and stuffs it into his mouth, "Thanks May!" 

She smiles and ruffles her hair, "You know you can tell me anything right?"

He nods, mumbling around the sugary snack, "Of course."

"Pete honey, Are you being bullied at school?"

Peter freezes, crumbs falling from his puffed up cheeks. 

"Wha-Of course not!" 

"Peter, tell me the truth."

"That is the truth!" 

She stares at him, "You come home, constantly covered in bruises that don't fade. Your legs and arms look like a Jack Pollock painting. You're clumsy but not that clumsy. Peter, you're worrying me."

He looks away at that point, probably guilty for worrying her. 

"I-I'm sorry for worrying you May. I'm not being bullied or anything. Honestly, it's just really bad luck!" Peter grins sheepishly, "I run into things, trip, the usual stuff ya'know."

In the end she doesn't get a real answer out of him. Instead she's left having to wait for Peter to open up to her. 

* * *

"Dude you live in Hell's Kitchen right?" He asks Peter.

"Right..." Peter drawls out, suspicious of what Ned's getting at. 

"Have you heard the news there?"

"W-What news?"

"The news about the new vigilante!" Ned exclaims, moving to shake Peter by his shoulders, "Dude that's so cool! You have two vigilantes!"

"Ned. Ned. Ned! Stop shaking me!" 

"Shit, sorry man." He says, removing his arms from Peter, "But seriously, that's so cool. Apparently they're calling them the Leviathan. The news thinks the new guy's connected to Daredevil."

"I didn't know you were interested in vigilantes." Peter grins, adjusting the backpack strap.

They throw a few more jabs between them as they walk to class. Talking about Captain America's PSAs and Flash when the conversation shifts to legos. 

"You wanna come over today to build legos or to just hang out?" 

"Ah, sorry Ned," Peter rubs the back of his neck, "I got a lot of stuff to do after school."

"No problem, what about tomorrow?"

"Uhh, I'm also busy tomorrow."

Busy. It seemed to be all that Peter was. Ned hadn't hung out with Peter in several weeks. Each time he asked Peter always responded with the same word. Busy. 

Ned wasn't blind, he could see how Peter was always covered in bruises and scrapes. Except every time he brought them up Peter was somehow able to deflect the topic onto something else. He didn't even know Peter was able to deflect things. 

Most of all though, he didn't know Peter knew how to keep secrets. 

Because that's what they were. Secrets. Tiny little secrets that Peter hid, except they weren't tiny and they weren't hidden. Not well at least. It left dark stains on his legs and arms, and even in the dark bags under his eyes.

MJ and he had started speculating what it could've been. They threw theories around after school, during lunch while Peter hadn't arrived yet, even while Peter dozed off in class. 

They tossed around ideas of Peter being in a gang. Or maybe he was doing drugs. 

"Maybe he's that new Leviathan vigilante running around Hell's Kitchen." 

He rolls his eyes, "Really? I know the things we say are pretty farfetched, but that's pretty fantastical. Besides, can you really see Peter running around beating up baddies at night?"

MJ shrugs, "I mean, he lives in Hell's Kitchen, is constantly covered in bruises, and doesn't sleep much."

Ned chuckles, "Could you imagine? Peter Parker, asthmatic kid by day, vigilante of justice by night."

Then Peter shambles into the classroom, looking like he hasn't slept in the past lifetime. He yawns, "Who's a vigilante of justice?"

"You." MJ says bluntly. 

Peter freezes for a split second. If he hadn't been Peter's best friend he wouldn't have noticed.

"Right, very funny."

Ned mostly forgets that small exchange. Mostly. Sometimes he thinks back on it. On how Peter had froze. 

* * *

The feeling is addictive.

The pounding of his heart.

The pavement under his feet.

The feeling of saving someone.

He's so glad Matt was teaching him parkour. It makes him feel like he's flying. Makes his blood sing. The way he hovers right before gravity pulls him into its cruel embrace, how he hangs there, like a water droplet just before it falls. He loves that feeling. 

He can't do any of the fancy stuff Matt does. He can't flip or twirl as he leaps from building to building. but he knows enough to manage. 

The news started calling him the Leviathan. Peter's not sure how to feel about it. On one hand, what he does is being recognized. On the other, he needs to get a better disguise. The hoodie and bandanna he wore wouldn't hold up forever. Maybe he could get some kind of medical mask to cover the lower part of his face and googles to obstruct the rest. A hat to cover his hair too? 

Peter stops. 

Physically stopping that mental train of thought. When had he become an actual vigilante? He had a name, was actually contemplating a new outfit, and convinced Daredevil to train him. Hadn't it only supposed to be a way to find the elusive vigilante? A way to thank him for helping Peter that one time? He thinks back to why he didn't stop there. Standing in front of Daredevil being told to go home, some part of him couldn't. Some part of him couldn't bare to stop. Couldn't just let it go. 

It was like a drug to him. The feeling of the fight, of saving people. He had gotten a taste and couldn't quit. Not by now. 

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to Nessa90610 for giving me enough motivation to finish this. This story is a shorter than the others so I'll try to get the next one out as soon as I can.


End file.
